Syrian Charged in Plot to Attack Israeli Ships

A Turkish court on Thursday charged a suspected Al Qaeda militant with plotting to use a speedboat packed with explosives to attack Israeli cruise ships off this nation’s Mediterranean coast.

The suspect, identified by police as a Syrian national, shouted to reporters while being escorted from an Istanbul courthouse that he had wanted to carry out the assault on tourists but insisted that he had been acting alone.

“I wanted to attack Israeli ships in the open seas without harming Turkish civilians,” he said. “I have no regrets.”

No reporters were allowed in the courtroom, and it was not immediately clear whether he had entered a plea.

The court ordered his arrest on additional charges of membership in an illegal organization.

The suspect, identified in Turkish media as Louai Sakra, 32, has denied he is a member of the Al Qaeda terrorist network. But police quoted by the media described him as a regional leader for Al Qaeda who was also suspected of involvement in planning and securing financing for November 2003 suicide car bomb attacks against Israeli and British targets in Istanbul.

More than 60 people, most Turkish Muslims, perished in the attacks that were carried out against two synagogues, the British Consulate and the London-headquartered HSBC bank.

Israeli Ambassador Pinhas Avivi termed the arrest “a huge achievement” and said Israel would cancel a travel warning issued Monday urging its citizens to avoid the Turkish coast.

“The level of threat has been significantly reduced,” Avivi said in a telephone interview. “We are telling our people they are free to go to Turkey.”

Five cruise ships carrying about 5,000 Israeli tourists were diverted in recent days from Turkish ports to the island of Cyprus after intelligence reports warned of an imminent attack.

Turkey is Israel’s top regional ally and, thanks to its proximity and cheap prices, a favorite destination for Israeli tourists. About 30,000 Israelis visit the country each year.

Some analysts said the alleged plot was a troubling indicator of Al Qaeda’s potential to operate in this officially secular and predominantly Sunni Muslim nation of 68 million.

“The November [2003] truck bombings already showed that Al Qaeda is able to find recruits here,” said Faruk Demir, a security analyst and former advisor to Turkey’s National Security Council.

All four suicide bombers who carried out those attacks were Turkish nationals. Their suspected accomplices said they were originally planning to attack an Israeli cruise ship in the Mediterranean, according to a court indictment.

Demir noted that about 10,000 Turkish nationals had fought alongside guerrillas in Afghanistan, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Chechnya and so “there exists an ample recruiting pool” of militants, even though “the overwhelming majority of Turks abhor their actions.”

Sakra’s defense lawyer, Osman Karahan, told reporters that police accused his client of planning to use an inflatable Zodiac speedboat packed with explosives to attack cruise ships near the Mediterranean towns of Antalya and Kemer.

Sakra was detained in the southeastern city of Diyarbakir on Saturday while boarding a plane for Istanbul with false identity papers, according to authorities.

Police said they had discovered the alleged plot when a fire broke out in an apartment in Antalya that had been rented by an Iranian whom they did not identify.

Security forces became suspicious after a sharp smell of chemicals began spreading in the neighborhood as a result of the fire. Police said they found incriminating evidence, including the suspect’s passport, in the apartment.

Turkish media reported that Israeli and U.S. intelligence officials had worked with Turkish police to track down the suspect and a fellow Syrian, Hamed Obaysi, 21, who was charged Wednesday with membership in a terrorist organization.

Avivi, the Israeli ambassador, said his government had only exchanged information with Turkish authorities. “The operation was 100% Turkish and a 100% success,” he said.

A U.S. Embassy spokesman declined to comment.